Tremeter
Reviews

Characters

NOPD might get pissed at the savage depiction of the beat down of Antoine Batiste, but that is their own shit and they have to own it. You don’t want to be portrayed like that then don’t act like that. The only thing I can say is that David Simon has a very keen sense of balance and come Mardi Gras, in Treme Land, I am sure that NOPD will not be cast as such the villai, as they do run the best party in the best city in the world.

It seems there is a great deal of push back on the Davis character for either being (1) based on someone everyone seems to know in town accept me and (2) he is just a screw up of a character.

I think he is one of the best parts of the show. He will bring levity to any episode and really seems sweet when you look beyond being such a screw up. I loved the scene with the Professor’s daughter (and then the father’s talk on the porch).

Wendell Pierce character has to be my favorite so far. He truly plays his role and gives an authenticity to musicians in New Orleans. Him and his interaction with other local musicians is absolutely wonderful to me. It just feels right!

I think it is a little slow but I think it is necessary to develop the characters properly. Describing real life is gonna take a minute. Oh we of such short attention should be patient and trust the creators vision.

John Goodman, in real life is a spokesperson for Levees.org. Before the show aired, I feared that some would marginalize Goodman’s character, Creighton Bernette as a member of a fringe group. Therefore, I was pleased to see that in the second episode, it because well established that Goodman’s character is a thinking intellectual albeit with a bit of a potty mouth.

Wendell Pierce is channelling all street musicians and their lives really well. Reminds me a bit of James Andrews mixed in with Bob French. Stories of all kinds, avoiding Bourbon Street (for all the right music reasons), impressing the tourists—making gigs but not looking for a job. I have friends who match this in various ways, but I will not out them here. You know who you are ;)

I love DJ Davis, but I am going to literally struggle throughout this series if he “represents” the dj experience at WWOZ. There is no doubt that djs at WWOZ are eclectic, essentric, egotistical, and self-important. That’s why they’re called radio “personalities.” And WWOZ djs had many a quarrel with the policies at the station. But they all had an incredible passion for the music they play—and I’m not getting that out of the Davis character in this first episode. He’s just “there” at the station. The relationship between WWOZ and the community needs to be better illustrated, and these crazy, knowledgable djs help preserve it. WWOZ is the soundtrack of the city. Davis needs to show us why.

I feel that John Goodman’s character is channeling the great New Orleans blogger Ashley Morris. You can feel Ashley’s passion in Goodman’s lines. The character (Bernette) represents how we all felt three months after the storm. Both the Anger and the emerging Resiliance become the foundations of the rebuilt New Orleans, and Ashley was the voice that trumpeted our emotions to the rest of the world. Wendell Pierce’s character represents all working musicians in this city. The money is sparse and tight, but they work with passion every day and night. Clark Peters is a channeling Monk Boudreaux, with a bit of Tootie Montana. You can see how important the tradition is with him in his costume.

Having moved back after the hurricane in October, I found this to be a somewhat accurate portrayal. But, to have Davis Rogan, one of the more annoying people in New Orleans, as one of the title characters is horrible. There are so many other local characters that are more deserving of having their stories told. Overall the show was good. It’s going to be hard to have so many story lines and still get to the real pain and yet hope that we all had at the point after the hurricane.